Start All Over
by Simply Snazzical
Summary: One-shot. RipplexTodd, slight one-sided ToddxMassie. Then she let the tears fall, because she wasn't going to be Ripple Baxter anymore. She was going to start all over.


**Blahh. I'm sick. My throat hurts so bad and I just wanna sleep! But... I had a kinda crack-ish idea and I figured I'd try it out!**

**Review?**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Clique. Shocker there.**

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Ripple had never been one to care about appearances.

That is, until she met _him. _

An_ older guy_, already in middle school. A _Briarwood _boy. She just _knew_ he was the _one_.

It was official. Ripple Baxter was going after Todd Lyons.

She had seen him around the skate park before her idiotic brother's friends had "scared off all the poor little rich kids," and he was always trying to impress. Even now, she walked past Briarwood every day after school to catch a glimpse of him and hope he would notice her. So far, no such luck.

So here she was, pouting and anxiously twirling a sun-drenched piece of her straw-colored (and textured) hair, perched on the statue of some old Army guy right across the street from where he was hanging out with his friends. She had just hit the three-week-crush mark, and she was determined that this was going to go from crush to relationship.

For a fourth grader, she was unusually mature and clued-in, at least, that was what she liked to think. Having an older brother like Dune had given her experience being around older guys. Plus, all of his ah-dorable skater buddies thought she was cool, so why wouldn't Todd? That is, if he ever noticed her.

She daintily crossed her deeply tanned, dried-out legs the way she had seen Skye Hamilton and her blonde friends do. How long would it take for him to notice her?

She glanced anxiously down at her brand-new Roxy sundress that was precisely the color of the breezy sky over Hawaii, bought for the purpose of attracting said mentioned loverboy's attention. She wriggled as the thin material worked its way up her legs. Her and dresses mixed about as well as her dad and dry land. However, this was the only way she could think of to stand out. Apparently, that wasn't working either.

Finally, his little posse of sixth grade buddies traipsed off down the street, stopping to stare at Massie Block and the Pretty Committee, who were giggling their way down the street. For the first time, Ripple felt a tiny pang of jealousy. She wanted to be as perfect as them.

Panic laced through her as Massie and her friends came closer and closer to her. She had heard the whispers and rumors and jealous comments about them. Everybody knew who they were.

When they were about two surfboard-lengths away from her, she slid quickly off the statue and nonchalantly strolled down the street after Todd. A confrontation with Massie was not on her To-Do list.

She grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled it down so that it came almost to her knees. Maybe the dress wasn't such a great, great, _great_ idea after all.

Sneaking a glimpse over her shoulder, she saw the five girls kneeling behind a row of bushes, laughing hysterically and each holding a pair of binoculars. Massie whispered something to the gorgeous Spanish one, and she pushed her out from their stakeout. What was it about popular girls that they always seemed to be having the most fun eh-ver?

She sped up her pace and trailed after Todd, her well-worn flip-flops slapping the pavement. It was early, only April, to be wearing a dress and flip-flops, but Ripple didn't care. This was a special occasion.

Finally, she caught up with Todd, who had parted ways with his friends a block or so back.

"Hey, Todd," She choked out, mentally cursing herself for sounding so desperate.

He turned, confusion mixed with his typical mischievous expression. "Hey?"

She took another deep breath and tried again. "Hey, I'm Ripple, remember? Dune's sister."

She could tell that he recognized her as Dune's sister. That was a start, right?

"Oh, yeah. The surf chick," He said, taking in her head-to-toe Roxy-ness.

Surf chick? That was more like it.

"Yeah, that's me," She giggled. Wait, giggled? Ripple Baxter did not giggle. Girls like Skye or Massie giggled.

"So... what's up?" Todd asked uncertainly. It was clear that he had absolutely no idea why a fourth-grader had stopped to talk to him in the middle of the street.

"Um..." She stalled. What was she doing? Was she just going to scream out that she liked him?

His restless brown eyes flickered from her blushing cheeks to the cars whizzing by, and he shifted the weight of his backpack as he waited for her to speak.

"Well, I was just, uh, you know, in the area, so I thought I'd... um, come talk to you," She tried lamely.

"Talk to _me_?" He asked skeptically. "And wait, you go to ADD. That's like... a mile away. Are you stalking me?"

She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "Sweet! I've always wanted a stalker. I must be famous! Wait until I tell Nathan. This is the coolest thing ever!"

Her cheeks went redder than she thought was possible. "No, I'm not, not, _not _stalking you! I just..."

He was actually disappointed that he didn't have a stalker. This was not, not, _not_ going how she wanted it to.

"So... if you're not stalking me then... do you _like_ me?" He guessed. Right on target.

He seemed to take her lowered eyes and flushed cheeks as a yes.

"Well, um, Ripple, that's really... nice of you?" He stammered. Obviously, he hadn't had much experience in turning down fourth graders. "I mean, no offense or anything, like, surfer chicks are cute and all, but..."

She was somewhat proud of herself for not letting the telltale tears fall. After all, she was a Baxter. She shouldn't, couldn't, _wouldn't_ cry. "But what?" She prodded. At least it might be helpful if she knew what she was up against.

Right at that moment, a flurry of car horns sounded, and her and Todd both whipped their heads around to the source of the chaos.

Directly across the street from them, Massie Block and her Briarwood-trust-fund-cleat-feet-skater-puppy-dog boyfriend were kissing. Even Ripple had to admit it was adorable. She was balanced delicately on the back of his bike, her arms wrapped around his waist, and his hands brushed back her annoyingly perfect hair from her face. They seemed oblivious to the world around them.

She snuck a glance at Todd's face. He was just as zoned as they were, but his sad brown eyes were glued on Massie.

That was when it hit her. She wasn't enough for him. Just like the rest of the world, he was under Massie's powerful spell.

After forty-one seconds that felt like an eternity, Massie pulled back, said something that made him laugh, and they continued down the street, still blissfully unaware of the heartbroken fourth grader and equally-distraught sixth grader gazing after them.

"Oh," She said eventually. "I see."

It was Todd's turn to blush. On his pale, freckly skin, it was much more obvious. "Yeah. She's just... wow. I'm sorry. Surfer chicks are cute, but she's so... sophisticated and she's smokin' hot. If she would ever stop obsessing over that jerk, maybe she would notice me."

"Tell me about it," She said shortly before turning on her heel and stalking off the opposite direction.

Once she was a safe distance away from him, she let the tears flow. Because it didn't matter anymore. Who said she was Ripple Baxter?

Once he told her that sophisticated older girls were his type, she had made a decision.

She wasn't going to be that surf chick anymore. If she couldn't _be_ Massie, she would be _just like her_.

She would do whatever it took to make him realize that she could be as... _Massie _as Massie was.

She could start with asking for a summer math tutor... one who just so happened to be Massie freaking Block's best friend. Soccer-star-slash-genius girl would do.

She wasn't going to be the girl who loved to skate and lived to surf, the girl who never cared what she looked like, the girl who lived her life breezy and carefree, the girl who was turned down by her three-week crush.

She was going to start all over.

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**Ehh, I'm not loving this, but still... review?**

**Next chapters of WtPCBtBY, DFTRM, and DMNA are coming, bee tee double-you!**


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